Criminal probe targets AP, Reuters cameras on Mandela

New
York, December 16, 2011--South African authorities announced on Thursday the
launch of a criminal probe against international news agencies The Associated
Press and Reuters for installing cameras outside the home of anti-Apartheid
figure Nelson Mandela, according to news reports.

Invoking
the National
Key Points Act,
an Apartheid-era law designed to curb reporting of areas deemed sensitive,
authorities described the presence of the cameras as a breach of Mandela's
privacy and the law and launched a criminal investigation into the news
organizations, news reports said. The 1980 law, created
to protect buildings or landmarks that the then-ruling National Party feared could
be the target of anti-Apartheid protests and media coverage, carries a prison
sentence of up to three years and/or a fine of 10,000 rand (US$1,192) for
anyone who "furnishes in any manner whatsoever any information" either on
security measures or "in respect of any incident" occurring at a national key
point without government permission, CPJ research shows.

"It is ironic that the South African police, under the
government that fought against Apartheid, have invoked an obscure and
repressive relic of that era in the name of protecting Apartheid's most famous
victim," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on the authorities
to drop investigations that criminalize legitimate newsgathering activities
that neither invade privacy nor endanger the security of Nelson Mandela. The
National Key Points Act, in its current form, is an affront to the democratic
constitution modeled by Mandela."

Earlier
this week, police searched a house in Qunu village
in eastern South Africa and removed cameras pointed at the home
of Mandela, the 93-year-old anti-Apartheid icon whose health has been the
subject of intense media interest, the weekly Sunday
Timesreported on
Thursday. The Times quoted the
house's owner, Chieftainess Nokwanele Balizulu, as saying that she had
authorized AP and Reuters to install the cameras as far back as six years ago.
Local
journalists who have covered Mandela's activities for years told CPJ that they
only just learned on Thursday that his residence was a national key point.

"In
South Africa, all the houses of presidents are declared national key points,
and there's a law which covers national key points in the country, which is
called the National Key Points Act. In terms of the act, any person who
films or photographs a national key point can be held in contravention of that
law," South
African National Police Spokesman Vishnu Naidoo told the BBC on
Thursday. "We are in the process of
investigating these cases. We have so far discovered that these cameras
belong to at least two media houses, but once we finalize those investigations,
we will talk to our national prosecuting authority to determine a way forward,"
he said. According to him, the cameras were "constantly on ... suggesting that
the house was being filmed and monitored throughout," a claim rejected by AP.

In a statement sent to CPJ, AP Director of
Media Relations Paul Colford declared that "one camera ... was positioned some time ago, with the knowledge of
authorities. According to Colford, "it was part of the customary preparedness
that AP and other large news organizations make in the event of a major news
story involving a world leader." In a separate press statement, Reuters Public Relations
Manager Joanne Crosby said, "We did have a camera, and it has been removed."

South African
authorities have launched criminal probes against at least four leading South
African investigative reporters in recent months in response to their coverage of the
government, according to CPJ research. High-ranking South African officials
have been mired in high-profile scandals of corruption
and misconduct that have been widely covered by the media.